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Buddhadeb: Maoists brought arms

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said here on Tuesday that the situation in Nandigram, which remained troubled since January, changed after the arrival of Maoists from Jharkhand to provide training to the locals over the past three months. Their closing ranks with activists of the Trinamool Congress-backed Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee “created a real threat.”

The Chief Minister said: “The Maoists, it was reported, brought sophisticated arms, landmines and other explosives to Nandigram.”

The detection of a landmine by the Central Reserve Police Force in Sonachura area of Nandigram confirmed suspicions of Maoist presence in the area.

A senior CRPF official had said such explosives were usually found in areas where the Maoists were active, he said.

People were returning to their homes. Payment of compensation to the families of those killed in the March 14 police firing and subsequent violence, reshuffle of the local police administration and gradual withdrawal of all cases, except those of rape and murder, were considered, he said.